SCIENCE IN MOTION

CSPAC wants to start off the year with a bang. But not just any bang — a Big Bang.

A new dance piece based on research in particle physics, "The Matter of Origins," put on by the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, will have its world premiere at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center tonight.

The show's choreographer, Liz Lerman, a university alumna and member of the Alumni Hall of Fame, explained the mix between science and art was not unusual.

"Some of the overlaps have to do with the nature of how you ask questions," Lerman said. "[It's] how you investigate and research, how passionate and to some extent, how both artists and scientists pursue a question for long periods of time pursue a question for long periods of time without any resolution."

While developing the piece, Lerman and some of her team visited the European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN, in Geneva, which Lerman called "a testament to a peace project."

The team was inspired by the many languages spoken there in order to solve technological issues. One member of the company was allowed to dance through the laboratory, including in the tunnel where the particle accelerator is located.

"This kind of investment in creation is exactly what a research university does," said Paul Brohan, director of artistic initiatives at CSPAC, calling Lerman "wide-thinking" by noting her credentials in performance and academics.

Eleven dancers, including 2007 graduate Sarah Levitt, who majored in dance, will perform the piece.

"The idea of collisions is something we've been working with," Levitt said. "The idea of beginnings and endings. It's coming at the movement from a different place, and that's always interesting to me."

Act one of the show will be a dance performance in the Kay Theatre. Lerman added that video and other multimedia will be incorporated into the piece.

Lerman and Levitt were both quick to mention that "The Matter of Origins" is about more than science.

"It is a story about beginnings," Levitt said. "That is part of it. Although it's about physics and we're looking at, loosely, the beginning of how things started on Earth."

Lerman said the science involved in the piece is informational but also metaphorical. She explained that particles, collisions and energy are not necessarily used to teach, but to explore dance in new ways.

Act two of the show will seat audience members at tables near the Kay Theatre, where they will be served tea and chocolate cake. The cake will be made from a recipe of Edith Warner, a tea house owner who cooked for scientists in the Manhattan Project.

"I got very interested in people who are sort of witnesses to history," Lerman said. "I mean, there she was … It's interesting to think about what was she listening to when she was serving all of that."

The second act will incorporate more dancing but also allow for audience response. Lerman said a university physicist and a dancer playing the role of Warner will preside over each tearoom.

Dancers will act as "provocateurs" who will answer questions and move conversation along.

Levitt expressed her excitement about returning to the campus for the show's world premiere.

"I got to perform in the Kay as a student, but getting to come back as a professional with the Dance Exchange — it's huge for me," Levitt said. "And I'm just so happy the premiere is happening at Maryland because I really loved this school and I got so much out of the program."

Both alumnae were excited to return to their alma mater and provided reasons for current students to attend the premiere.

"You're gonna be thinking and feeling and wondering and seeing," Lerman said. "And then you get some chocolate cake. It sounds like a great night to me!"

"The Matter of Origins" will open today at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. at the Kay Theatre in CSPAC. Both shows are sold out, but there will be a standby line in the lobby 30 minutes before the show.

afreedman at umdbk dot com